ANN ARBOR, Mich. (July 10th, 2023) – Nickels today announced acceptance into the BECU FinTech Incubator, powered by CoMotion Labs and BECU, Washington’s largest credit union. The BECU Fintech Incubator Program serves as a launchpad for emerging fintech companies, providing them with the necessary resources, mentorship, and guidance to thrive in the competitive financial technology landscape. Nickels was selected as one of three companies for the 2023 cohort, which will start in July and run for one year.
“We are thrilled to be part of the BECU Fintech Incubator program where we will collaborate with one of the country’s largest credit unions to accelerate our work in helping credit unions take control of member’s third-party credit card debt,” said Joseph Gracia, CEO of Nickels. “BECU’s commitment to financial health and the accelerator’s expertise will further hone our product offerings to improve members’ credit card health while enhancing credit unions’ profitability in the process.”
Nickels brings a unique offering to the credit union movement by analyzing payment patterns in checking account data, identifying third-party card revolvers, and then targeting those members with personalized marketing to offer debt refinancing. To date, Nickels has helped credit union members refinance more than $15 million in third-party credit card debt.
“As a not-for-profit credit union, BECU is committed to improving the financial well-being of our members and their communities,” said Mike Zell, BECU’s senior vice president of Digital. “Nickels’ efforts to improve consumer credit card health and raise credit scores is commendable and aligns with our goal of helping individuals achieve financial freedom. We look forward to supporting Nickels with this important work and seeing how they will grow during the program.”
Through this program, Nickels will aim to enhance their product offerings, introduce new features, and further optimize the overall experience for credit unions and their members.
Nickels remains dedicated to its core mission to work with credit unions to redesign the credit card experience and improve credit card health. The work Nickels is doing with credit card debt can easily translate into other debt categories and Nickels’ long-term vision is to help members manage debt better with easier and more seamless personalized digital debt management tools.
As part of the accelerator cohort, Nickels will gain access to a network of industry experts, strategic partnerships, and cutting-edge technology, empowering the company to push boundaries and drive positive change.
The reputation and reach of both BECU and the University of Washington along with accelerator programming, resources and influence will help Nickels continue to grow and thrive in the competitive financial technology landscape.
About Nickels
Nickels is a CUSO that helps banks and credit unions take control over their consumers’ third-party credit card debt. Founded in Ann Arbor, MI, their mission is to improve consumers’ credit card health. They do this, in part, by identifying those that are credit card revolvers with the major banks and helping credit unions refinance that third-party credit card debt into their own lower interest products. Nickels also offers Credit Card Coach, a white-label web app that redesigns the credit card experience to improve members credit card health, regardless of which credit cards they choose to use. For more information, please visit nickels.us.
About CoMotion Labs
CoMotion Labs provides a multi-industry incubation environment for early-stage startups. They welcome startups from both inside and outside the UW community. From critical infrastructure to learning, mentoring, and networking, CoMotion Labs nurtures and enables success, helping them to grow without taking equity. The labs operate in three incubators on the UW Seattle campus, each focusing on a particular industry sector.
